£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

try_harder

Well done on the debt repayments

Silver_Queen

Pumpkin soup:rotfl:

apple_muncher

Hooe you feel better soon.

Suffolk_lass

You just have to decide who keeps, or where you keep the spare key. Our builder (who is in the Village) used to hold ours. Now we keep a spare in case work is done while we are out (we trust him) and one with our Son, in the neighbouring town. We also have a sticker on a front window so the police can check who holds our keys if they needed to get in for some reason.

Maybe one of those number-entry key boxes on a doorpost if you are considering hiding it - I always worry - we all think "Oh they won't look there" but it is really amazing how few places we all collectively choose. And keys rust if left outside, under, or inside things like pots, plant roots, sills, gaps or ledges. You know what I mean. What about the friend whose house you went to?

Yes, what Silver Queen said! :rotfl:

JoJoC

Great news on the goals - keep up the momentum You're doing really well with your debt repayment goal - will the amount you pay to debt lessen in the months that you earn less? Or is your debt payment fixed at £500-ish per month and when you earn more you can pay off more?

It's so pleasing to see good progress towards a target!

XSpender

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

5. Make soup for dinner. Has to be done while the DC are at school as they don't like butternut squash soup, but they do like 'pumpkin soup' - i.e. butternut squash soup made by a mother who lies to them.

:rotfl:

Just like my DS who hates ketchup but loves tomato sauce

Honeybug

Hi TOPM,

It has taken me nearly a week but I have just finished reading you diary and just wanted to say how well you are doing.

As others have said you have a really easy writing style and I have laughed out loud at some points - thinking, the bloomin handbag, the £48 washbowl and the image of you as a crawling gorilla finishing a marathon whilst emptying your lake with a teaspoon. Priceless. Thank you.

My thoughts are that money is a choice, everyone will make different choices that are right for them. Also, that noone really knows anothers financial position. It is very un-British to openly discuss such things;).

I know there has been much discussion about your food budget, please dont be disheartened but as a monther of 2 DS's, I am sure that once they hit about 11 they get hollow legs. I swear mine can eat their own bodyweight in food:rotfl: I am constantly trying to stay in budget but also really struggle with it.

You have done amazingly well at turning that large tanker around, I hope it is now sort of in the right direction to drive it forward to where you want to go.

Also, big thanks to enthusiastic, jojo, suffolk and all your other regular contributors. All of you have given me plenty to think about.

JoJoC

It's funny you say that about butternut squash - my kids have been eaten noodles tonight despite not liking noodles. I told them it was spaghetti!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 52: Day 4

I'm chortling at all those mean parents out there who are similarly deceiving their children. The 'pumpkin' soup was cheerfully consumed, of course.

My cold doesn't seem to be turning into much, just an irritating sniffle, for which I am grateful.

JoJoC the debt repayment amount is fixed at a minimum of about £400 (can't remember the exact figure) whatever I earn, but I'm hoping to be able to pay extra over the course of the year. One of the reasons for trying to get the buffer in place in my business account is to ensure we don't struggle to meet those minimum repayments over the year.

Honeybug thank you for your lovely comment, so nice to have new cheerleaders!

I was thinking yesterday how much my attitude has changed. I went out for a walk with a friend a couple of days ago and we were browsing some nice shops on the high street on the way home, the sort of places I could (and would) have spent in before, and she bought a few things that she clearly quite liked, but none of them seemed to spark huge excitement in her. It literally did not occur to me to buy anything, and I was slightly :eek: at her 'oh, this'll do' attitude. Like she had decided to shop, and she was going to shop regardless of whether she actually loved what she saw. I don't know if I ever bought things that were just 'ok' (I'm good at finding things I love ), but it did remind me how easily I used to fritter money away - my friend probably sank £100 over an hour or so, on nothing particularly exciting, and made a comment later about not having bought anything much so she still had shopping money for another time. Not that she is in the same financial boat as us (although still not remotely rich), and it's none of my business what others choose to spend, but it was a really good reminder me that I used to have that attitude to shopping without the bank balance to back it up!

In other news, I have agreed with my siblings to take my dad out for his birthday in April to an old favourite restaurant of his, which will be moderately expensive and I need to find the money for it. I'll put by (in a separate YNAB pot - god bless YNAB!) a tenner of my personal kitty each month until then, which will give me £30, and a little (maybe the £30 to pay for my share of his meal) can come from the birthdays pot, as it will be his present, but I probably need to find another £30 from somewhere, a tenner each month. First £10 will come from topcashback, where I've just realised I have £10.64 waiting to pay out. So only £20 to magic up before April.

Savings/Spends:
- £16.48/£28 February 'rounding down' overpayment pot
- £1,046.80/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £60 on a new North Face coat for DC1 (from the children's clothing kitty). We have always bought excellent coats for DC1 and it has paid off as they (a) they are totally, genuinely waterproof even in full days of downpour, and (b) they can hand down to at least DC2, if not DC3 as well. The coat I am about to pass on from DC2 to DC3 was first bought for DC1 in 2014! It's a bit knackered now, but will do until the summer when I will buy a cheap lightweight waterproof to get her through until the winter.


To do today
1. Continue to get ahead on contract work
2. See if I can get the digital camera my sister gave me to work.
3. Social media for work
4. Give the dining room a proper clean - I tidied it yesterday so just cleaning to do.
5. Make veggie burgers for dinner.
6. Make flapjacks for snacks.

To do this week
1. More decluttering - particularly the lego! DONE DONE DONE.
2. Finish planning any handmade gifts for birthdays/Christmas 2018 so I can ensure they are done well in advance. Done.
3. Arrange a refund for a cancelled swimming lesson of DC2's. Done!

Ooh, I have done all three things on my list for this week already. How pleasing.

To do in February
1. Restart social media for my website, which has really been on the back burner so far this year. Making a start.
2. Eat the contents of the freezer and defrost it. Ongoing, doesn't feel like we've made much of a dent yet!
3. Play around with designs to discuss with the architect in early March.
4. Have a laid back half term with the DC, doing activities at home, walks and crafts. Too many busy weeks recently.
5. SLOW DOWN. This started well at the beginning of the year, but has fallen by the wayside. I have a couple of fractionally less busy weeks coming up, must make a real effort not to fill them with All The Things. This is going pretty well, I'm feeling fairly calm.

enthusiasticsaver

I think your attitude has changed and good you did not waste money on buying stuff just for the sake of it. Maybe your friend could afford it but buying stuff saying that will do sounds like it will end up in landfill or the charity shop in 6 months time. At least you only buy stuff you love.

I think I must have saved a fortune in both time and money over the years by overthinking purchases. I am not an impulsive shopper at all. I think, do I want this or need it. Where will it go, how often will I use it and can I get something better for that price? Only exception is clothes. I tend to go twice a year and if it fits, is the right colour and style and looks good then I will buy it. No trawling round numerous shops trying stuff on. Still planned trips though.